555th JFW Young Blood
by Motown Scrapper
Summary: The war against The neuroi was getting rough The ranks of the Strike Witches were getting stretched thin. Mostly because the older witches were aging out as well as combat losses these were taking their toll of the ranks. In an attempt to solve the problem The 555th Joint Fighter Wing was formed using Witches under ten years of age. Will these tiny witches be up to the challenge.
1. Chapter 1 prolog

**INTRODUCTIONS**

In creating the 555th JFW I had to create a few other things and groups to better explain their existence. After all NOTHING exists in a vacuum. Basically the existence of the 555th JFW is a result of two factors. The first is the losses of experienced witches a few from combat but most from 'aging out' losing their powers. While still able to train witches they are no longer able to fight. The second is the manifestation of magical abilities in younger girls particularly in the Great Lakes region of the North Liberion continent but a few in other regions as well. These new witches range in age from elementary school down to pre-school age .In some cases the spells have to be taught orally to witches that have not learned to read yet. There are some people who believe that these little girls should be trained to be Strike Witches as soon as possible. The Upper Peninsula Aero Striker Research Center was created to look into the possibility of using these tiny witches to fight the neuroi. The militaries of most nations already unhappy with the teenage witches want no part of these even younger girls. Enter the Conch Republic a pseudo state that came to be as a result of a dispute caused by an action by the United States Customs Department to control illegal entry through the Florida Keys by blocking all the bridges and making everybody who tried to cross onto the mainland provide proof of citizenship and submit to searches. That resulted in that region declaring independence from the US. The dispute was quickly resolved, but the declaration had not been withdrawn. The result was that while retaining USL citizenship the people still considered themselves to be also citizens of the Conch Republic. Nobody really took the Conch Republic seriously but the Conchs as they called themselves enjoyed taking pokes at the government. A few governments actually recognized the Republic, Gallia going so far as opening an embassy. As one more way to poke fun at the US government they decided to back the little witches. One of the Conch leaders knew a six year-old girl in a wheel chair because of polio who had powerful magic potential. He offered to convert a freighter to a carrier if the little girl could be given her dream to become a strike witch. UPASRC sent Darla Evans to check it out.

**PROLOG**

The trip from Houghton to The Conch Republic took three days by car and train. After being picked up at the train station by David Horan, Darla was taken the meet Latonya Morris. On the way there she was filled in on how Latonya's legs were paralyzed after a bout with polio when she was two. In spite of that Tonya as she was normally called was an active girl who did a lot in-spite of her handicap. She was especially known for her ability to throw a baseball with uncanny accuracy frequently pitching in sandlot games in-spite of her lack of mobility. She was known for her hard to hit pitches. When Darla arrived at the house she was greeted by a cute little black girl with her hair in pig-tails. The little girl looked up from her wheel chair with her soft brown eyes.

"Can you make me a strike witch?" she asked. "Please?"

Darla looked down at those soft brown eyes as Tonya pleaded with her. Darla nodded.

"We'll see." She replied." I need to see your legs."

Tonya pulled the blanket covering her legs off. Darla winced as the little girl's withered legs were exposed. In four years they had grown longer but there was no muscle, they were little more than skin and bones. She picked up the little girl's leg and noticed the lack of movement.

"Call-up your magic" She asked.

Tonya activated her magic and out popped an alligator tail showing that was her familiar. While she was not a full witch Darla could tell the strength of a magic aura. Tonya's was real strong and the aura went down her legs like a normal witch. At that point her brother appeared at the door way and started to taunt her.

"Hey crip! You really think you can be a strike witch?" He teased.

Tonya responded by grabbing a coke bottle off the table and threw it at him. He ducked around the corner...And the bottle changed direction in flight and nailed him upside the head. Darla immediately recognized the projectile guidance power.

"You know better than to tease her like that!" Their mother said. "She don't miss when she throws!"

Darla stood up with a big grin on her face.

"Hell YEAH she can be a strike witch!" She declared as she looked straight at Tonya's older brother... "And a damn good one too!"

She turned back to Tonya

"It'll take a few weeks but I'm going to start building your striker as soon as I get home!" She announced. "I'm sure Diana and the other girls will welcome you to the Five Hundred and Fifty Fifth Joint Fighter Wing."

"You really are going to make a Striker for me?" Tonya nervously asked.

"Yeah" Darla responded with a big grin. "You got a lot of power and with that Projectile guidance spell you should be able to have some real fire power...I think that is going to more than offset the lack of maneuverability a one piece striker will have."

Tonya returned Darla's grin. The two girls nodded. They knew that they were going to really shake things up...and liked the idea. David Horan the Conch official that had brought Darla from the train station smiled He could tell that little Tonya's dream to be a strike witch had been realized. When the Morris family offered to put Darla up for the night she accepted. David took his leave to inform Sir Peter Anderson that The Conch Republic Air force now had Strike witches. Sir Anderson smiled.

"Very well." he said." Now to live up to my end of the bargain."

He picked up the phone and dialed a number. He listened for it to be picked up at the other end.

"Buy that ship and get ready to convert it." He said into the mouth piece. "We have Strike Witches now."

Both men smiled.

"I'll need to talk to Miss Evans before she leaves tomorrow." He stated.

Darla got a good taste of southern hospitality that night. While the Morris's did not have a lot they still put up a tasty meal and Tonya shared her bed with Darla. She had insisted on letting Darla use her bed and was going to sleep on the couch. Darla noticed that the old couch was lumpy and Tonya's bed had plenty of room for two and stated that she would not force Tonya to sleep on that old couch either. She said that she would not force Tonya out of her bed and in the end the bed sharing was a compromise since the Morris's were not going to make their guest sleep on that lumpy old couch. The Yooper teen and the little southern black girl talked late into the night about many things like what it was going to be like fighting neuroi as a Strike Witch and that there may be problems with a lot of the government militaries because the girls in the 555th JFW are so young. At six Tonya was actually one of the older girls. Darla had one other worry as she looked over Tonya's ebony body. Tonya was going to be the first black person most of the girls of the 555th had ever seen. Darla was not sure how they would react to her. She knew that they were friendly and nice to others but Tonya looked a lot different from anybody most of them had met. She hoped that there would not be any problems. She put that out of her mind for the time being it would be a while before they met her so Darla would have time to prepare them to meet the newest member of the unit. As she fell asleep Darla's mind was already working on the construction of the special one piece striker unit for Tonya. The morning dawned bright and sunny; the girls were awakened by Mrs. Morris calling them for breakfast. Both girls looked at each other and smiled. Then they said good morning in unison. They laughed at that. Mrs. Morris called a second time telling them to hurry before the food gets cold. Darla slid off the bed then turned around and watched Tonya move from the bed to her wheel chair. Tonya noticed.

"Why are you staring at me?" She asked.

"Sorry I need to watch how you move so I can make a Striker cradle that you can use easily." Darla replied. "After breakfast I'll need to take some measurements too.

Tonya smiled as she finished sliding into her wheel chair.

"We better hurry; Momma gets really mad if we're late to eat." Tonya advised.

Darla nodded and followed Tonya to the kitchen. Mrs. Morris nodded as Darla sat down and Tonya rolled up to the table. She put down a platter of hot biscuits and a bowl of steaming bacon gravy.

"I'm sorry I don't have a better breakfast to give you Darla" She said apologetically. "Forgive me."

Darla put several biscuits on her plate and spooned some of the rich light colored gravy over them. She looked at the plate for a moment this was different to what yoopers normally ate but she carved off a piece of a gravy covered biscuit and ate it then another and another she looked up with a great big smile on her face.

"Forgive you for what?" She exclaimed. "This is really good! When I'm down here next time you have to show me how to make this."

"Oh hush!" Mrs. Morris exclaimed. "This is just biscuits and gravy with some bacon in it nothing special."

"I don't care about that!" Darla responded "I LIKE it!"

"You do?" Mrs. Morris asked.

Darla by this time was piling more on her plate.

"I think she does Momma." Tonya pointed out.

Darla nodded as she stuffed more gravy covered biscuits in her mouth. Mrs. Morris smiled. The girls enjoyed the rest of their breakfast Then Darla pulled out a cloth measuring tape to measure Tonya's legs so she could design the special socket to take her crippled legs. Darla knew that designing a striker for her was going to be a challenge...Darla loved challenges. She was proud of the way she was able to make strikers that could be used by little girls. She was looking forward to building a striker that that could be used by a witch with paralyzed legs. Darla wrote down the various measurements. She noted that Tracie Osborn while having shorter legs had similar width and diameter measurements because of her small size. Darla nodded and smiled. Tracie could be the test pilot for the new striker.

"It will probably take a month or two but you WILL have your own striker." Darla told Tonya. "And it will be a LOT faster than this"

Darla patted the arm of Tonya's wheel chair. Tonya nodded and smiled. Darla knelt down next to Tonya's wheel chair and gave the younger girl a big hug.

"The next time you see me we'll be bringing you your striker unit." Darla promised.

Mrs. Morris looked out the window and saw David Horan pull up in his car. She called back to Darla that her ride was here. Darla gave Tonya one final hug stood up and picked up her suitcase.

"I'll be back." she said

Darla stopped in front of Mrs. Morris.

"Thank you for feeding me and letting me stay the night." Darla said. "You're really nice and I like your cooking too."

"Oh Miss Darla you really don't need to say that." Mrs. Morris said. "It really wasn't much."

"I don't care! I like your cooking!" Darla exclaimed. "And you are really nice."

"Miss Darla, you are such a nice girl." Mrs. Morris declared. "You are polite and respectful. You are quite mature for your age."

Darla blushed beet red. "Thank you"

Mrs. Morris noticed Darla's embarrassment, and walked toward her arms out stretched. Darla knew what was coming and dropped her suitcase and met the embrace with one of her own. As the two hugged Tonya's older brother watched. He was surprised by the way Darla accepted the hug and was not the least bit flustered something white girls did not normally do in the south.

"Can Tonya really be a strike witch?" He finally asked.

"Yes.' Darla replied. "It won't be easy I have a lot of work ahead building a special striker unit for her then she is going to have to really work at it but if she is as determined as I think she is she should be a good one."

"You're not playing?" He asked. "She is really going to be a strike witch?"

"Yup she should be a strike witch by the end of summer." Darla replied.

"Tonya?" He said looking at his little sister in her wheel chair.

"Yeah Darnel" Tonya replied. "Me!"

They were interrupted by a knock on the door. It Was Dennis Horan.

"Miss Evans we have to go." He said. "Secretary General Anderson, Admiral Gittelman and General Cabanas are waiting to talk to you."

Darla sighed and picked up her suitcase.

"I shall return." She announced.

Darla followed David to the car. He opened the passenger door for her and she climbed in. he climbed into the car and started the motor.

"So how was your night?" He asked.

"It was good Mrs. Morris is a good cook and Tonya and I were able to talk a lot." Darla replied. "She has some real power especially that projectile direction power. She will likely need an escort witch to provide protection but I'm thinking that I can build her a striker unit that can carry a powerful weapon load. One of the things that we are lacking is witches that can carry a heavy weapon load. Most of the girls carry light carbines a few can carry BARs. I think I will be able load a one piece striker with M2 Browning machine guns and heavy rockets and with her projectile direction power she can guide rockets to their target. That makes her really deadly. I'm thinking of using the Douglas A-20 Havoc as the base."

By this time David's head was spinning. He had no clue what Darla was talking about. David Horan was a lawyer, Weapons and aircraft was something he knew little about. He shook his head.

"Darla most of that went right over my head." He told her. "I'm afraid I know very little about weapons."

"Well my job requires me to know about weapons." Darla informed him.

"Yeah I guess that since you are the Commander of the 555th JFW you would need to know about weapons and tactics." He replied.

"Oh I'm not the commander." She replied. "That's my little sister Diana. I'm in charge of the research facility."

"Why isn't she down here?" He asked.

"Well there is a new witch she is already training up north her name is Cindy and she is only two years old so Diana already has her hands full. We put her in Alpha flight as the third member there. I have to check out new witches to see if they can use a striker anyway." She informed him. "And I can tell you right now in spite of her handicap Tonya is going to be easy to train. She has a good head on her shoulders and listens well. Chances are when the striker is ready we'll bring it down along with Wendy O' Brian and Tracie Osborn and their strikers and set up a training center down here. Diana will come down then to help set it up then both of us will go back home and leave Wendy in charge down here."

"Sounds like you have it all worked out." He told her.

"Not so much worked out but more like I know how things work." She replied. "We have been doing this for over three years. Wendy was our second test pilot, Tracie our fourth. Tonya will be our tenth."

"So the 555th is going to have a large number of witches." He said.

"Yup, what our witches will lack in size we make up in numbers." She stated. "I think only the 501st has more."

"So the Conch Republic Air Force is getting to be rather formidable." He observed.

"That's right!" Darla agreed. "There are a lot of younger witches popping up and the Conch Republic is in the front of the line grabbing them."

David pulled up in front of a rather plain building.

"We're here." He announced." Secretary General Anderson, Admiral Gittelman and General Cabanas are waiting for us."

He climbed out of the car walked around to the passenger side and opened the door. Darla climbed out and straightened the sun dress she was wearing.

"Let's go Miss Evans" David requested. "They are waiting for us."

Darla nodded. David led her into the building and there were three men standing in the room one in a blue suit the others in military dress uniforms one blue and one white. David brought Darla into the room.

"Gentlemen, this is Miss Darla Evans Head Research Mechanic of the Upper Peninsula Aero Striker Research Center." He announced then gesturing toward each man in turn David introduced the officials." May I present Sir Peter Anderson Secretary General of the Conch Republic, Admiral Finbar Gittelman commander of the Conch Republic Navy and General of the Air Force Frederick R. Cabanas."

Darla was more than a bit nervous meeting the top leaders of the Conch Republic.

"P…Pleased to meet you" She stammered.

"No need to be nervous Miss Evans." Peter Anderson told her. "We are easy to get along with…As long as you are not with the USL Government. They tend to be too serious about themselves."

"Yeah they don't like us either." Darla responded.

"Right they are so rigid about their rules and such Miss Evans, aren't they?" Admiral Gittelman said.

"Yeah they are" Darla replied then added. "Could you call me Darla please? Miss Evans sounds like I'm an old teacher with grey hair that never got married."

"Okay Darla. You can call me Finbar or Fin for short." He replied. "First names will work better anyway. So how long have you been married?"

Darla's eyes bugged out for a moment before she figured out he was joking.

"Well Fin I'm not married yet. But I think you are a bit too old for me." She replied then lifted up her braided ponytail. "And my hair is not grey either."

Finbar blushed deeply. The other two men chuckled.

'So you think that Finny should only go out with women who have grey hair" Peter chuckled

"Maybe" Darla responded with a giggle.

Finbar was about to say something rude…Then he remembered there was a girl barely in her teens present and decided that would not be a good idea. So he sat down and sulked. Peter chuckled at the Fleet Admiral's reaction to the teasing before getting back down to business.

"So tell me Darla, how long do you think it will take to build the special striker for Tonya?" He asked.

"Well a lot will depend on how many problems I run into with all the changes needed to create a one piece unit. Probably four to eight weeks." She replied. "One thing I'm hoping to do since this will be a large one piece unit rather than two pieces and it will function more like an airplane. I'm thinking that rather than Tonya holding her weapons they will be mounted on her striker so she should be able to carry a MUCH heavier weapon load."

"Could you mount like Browning M2 Heavy machine guns and or HVARs?" Fred asked.

"If I have them." Darla replied.

"How long before you can start?" Peter asked.

"I can start on it as soon as I get back." Darla replied. "The train and car trip will take about three days. I already have the parts needed to build one based on the Douglas A-20 Havoc"

"Let me see your train Ticket." Fred told Darla.

Puzzled Darla handed him the train ticket.

"You're not going to need this." He said as he tossed on the nearby desk.

Darla went pale as she saw the way she needed to get home taken away from her. All she could think of was that she was a young girl just going into puberty all alone a long way from home.

.

"W…What are you going to d…do to me?" She stammered.

"A train takes too long." Fred said with a smile. "I have a Lockheed Electra 12. We are flying you home along with two Browning M2s Heavy Machine guns six launch racks for HVARs and 24 practice rockets and 12 live rounds. We should be able to land at your facility tonight. It's about a nine hour flight."

Darla breathed a sigh of relief.

"You had me worried there." She said. "I thought you were going to keep me here."

"Well you are rather cute." Peter pointed out. "But sadly we are too old for you plus we are already happily married with kids of our own."

"Yeah Freddy has a son around your age." Finbar pointed out.

Fred blushed a bit since Raymond was actually nineteen but he kept quiet not wanting to appear that old.

"Let's get to the airstrip." He said "I think it would be best if we take off as soon as possible so we still have light when we arrive."

Dennis Horan had left the room when the discussion turned to Darla's return home she showed up again at this point with Darla's suitcase.

"I think you will need this Darla." He stated.

Darla looked at the suitcase on the floor.

"No sense using two cars." Fred responded as he picked up the suitcase. "You can ride with me."

"Well if I am going to fly with you I guess it's safe to ride in your car." Darla quipped.

"You sure about that?" Finbar teased. "There are a lot more things to hit on the ground than in the air."

"Well you don't spend much time in either place." Fred retorted. "You spend most of your time on a boat."

"Gentlemen, while this is all fun to watch I believe that Darla would like to get home soon." Peter interrupted.

"Yeah," Darla agreed "I want to get started right away on Tonya's striker plus there is a little two year old up north who just started flying around on a striker and probably driving my little sister nuts."

"Well the faster we get going the better." Fred stated as he opened the door. Darla walked out ahead of him them blushing slightly as he opened the passenger door of his car for her and loaded her suitcase in the back seat Darla was not quite used to this level of courtesy.'

The ride to the airfield was short. Darla recognized the Lockheed Electra 12 as soon as she saw it and figured that was the plane they would be flying because of the conch shell markings on the tail fins fuselage and wings. As they drove up to the other side of the plane there were a number of carts loaded with boxes and crates along side by the rear door. Fred looked at where Darla was looking.

"Those are the guns rocket launchers and ammunition to mount on Tonya's striker." He told her as he parked along side the pile. "They still have to be loaded."

He got out of the car and still being a gentleman he opened the door for Darla and after she got out grabbed her suitcase out of the back seat and walked to the cargo door of the plane and put it in. He was surprised when he turned around and saw Darla walking behind him…with a box of .50 cal. Ammo in each hand. He stared as she swung both boxes up and they both landed on the door sill at the same time. It took a minute for him to find his voice.

"Huh Darla, What are you doing?" He finally blurted out.

"You said they have to be loaded…They aren't going to load themselves!" was her terse reply.

Fred stared at the young teen wide eyed. Those boxes weighed more than thirty pound each! He noticed for the first time that her shoulders were a bit broad and her arm muscles showed more than most girls her age he had seen.

"You going to stare at me or are you going to help?" She said as she turned around to grab two more boxes.

"Darla, you don't have to do that we have men that are supposed to load the planes." He told her.

"Yeah where are they?" She asked as she tossed two more boxes on the door ledge.

At that point two men walked up to her.

"What do you think you are doing?" one of them asked.

"Your job," Fred angrily told him. "You are supposed to have this plane ready to go."

"Maybe these boxes are too heavy for them to lift." Darla sarcastically said as she picked up two more ammo boxes and slammed them up on the door sill.

There is nothing like being showed up by a girl barely in her teens to get the Southern male ego going. Both men flushed red as they started to pick up boxes and load them in the plane. Fifteen minutes later the cargo was loaded and secured.

"Well I guess that you guys can work after all." Darla teased.

"So I suppose your guys can do better?" one of them responded.

"Actually the girls of the 555th will unload it themselves." She said.

"Oh they are like you then? He asked.

"No they are mostly four or five years old." Darla told them. "But they are witches so they are strong for their age."

"I'd like to see those little girls handle them heavy boxes." One of the ground crew guys remarked."

"Well I'm going to be filming them in action." Fred told them "I'll take some film of them unloading too."

The two loaders walked off shaking their heads. Fred and Darla looked at each other and smiled.

"This should be interesting when you film those little girls in action." She said. "I've seen them in action unloading trucks. It's funny to watch them swarm over the load and get it off the truck. More than a few truck drivers have just stood and stared watching a bunch of four and five year olds unload heavy stuff."

"Yeah I'd like to see that myself." Fred remarked with a hint of skepticism. "Well it's time to go."

"Yes" Darla agreed.

Fred walked up the center aisle of the aircraft from the back to the front checking the cargo as he went and sat down in the left hand seat in the cockpit and motioned to Darla to sit in the co-pilots seat. Darla sat down in the seat and looked around the cockpit intently. Fred was going through the pre-flight check and was not aware that Darla was looking around so intently. Once he finished the check he looked over at Darla

"Okay pre-flight is complete. Fasten your seat belt we're off!" He announced

Darla fastened her seat belt after a few moments of figuring it out while Fred started the Wright Cyclones and started to taxi to the runway. Soon the aircraft was lumbering up the runway weighed down by the heavy load before finally taking off. Darla was glued to the window this being her first time in an airplane.

"Wow!" Darla exclaimed as the plane took off and lumbered into the air. "So this is what flying is like."

"Huh?" Fred said. "What did you say?"

"I have never been in a plane before." Darla admitted.

"Wait a minute. Are you telling me that the girl who designs all the striker units for these girls has NEVER flown herself?" Fred asked in shock.

"No." Darla said blushing a deep red. "This is the first time I have ever been in an airplane."

"You have never even been on a plane?" He asked still surprised.

"No" Darla replied. "I never had a chance before."

Darla looked out the windows wide eyed.

"This is neat." She said. "Now I know why the girls like being in the air so much."

Fred sat mulling over what Darla had said.

"Would you like to learn how to fly?" He finally asked.

"Yes I would love to be able to fly" Darla admitted. "I don't like to admit it but I'm really envious of them. It hurts a little when I watch another one take off in her striker. When Cindy first took off on her striker…That really hurt. She's only two! She's still in diapers! She can fly! I'm stuck on the ground."

"Well as soon as you are finished with Tonya's striker you have a flying lesson" Fred said. "I'd let you fly this one but it's over loaded already and I prefer to teach you on a plane that is designed to teach."

"Yeah I understand." Darla agreed. "We can start when I come back with the striker unit."

"Yup when you next come down you'll fly your OWN plane home because I'm going to let you keep the plane I train you on."

Darla's eyes opened wide. "Really?"

"Really", Fred replied. "I already have the plane for you. A four seat Cessna. That way you can fly where needed."

"Th…Thank you." Darla stammered.

"Don't mention it." Fred replied. "I have an ulterior motive. We are going to need you to be able to go to where the strikers are going to need service and having your own plane will be a great help."

Darla smiled. This meant that the Conchs were serious about their support. They talked about the strikers for much of the rest of the flight and Fred showed Darla what the various controls and gauges did and after a while even let the young teen take the controls to get the feel of the plane after flying for a while and the fuel load was lighter. Darla showed a good feel for flying. When they were a bout an hour from the base Darla radioed ahead and let them know they would be arriving soon and to get ready. Just as the base was coming into view all the little girls took off and met the plane in flight. Fred was impressed by the way the nine little girls flew in formation to meet them.

"Not bad he commented they fly formation together quite well." He said.

"Yeah especially considering they fly three different types of strikers." Darla added.

At that point the girls broke formation and reformed around the plane. At that point Cindy flew close to the cock pit shaking her little butt.

"Wookie! Wookie! Wookie!" She called out as she flew VERY close to the windscreen. "Wookie! Wookie! Wookie!

Fred was a bit shook up by the toddler's behavior.

What's with this kid?" he asked. "It looks like she is showing off her panties."

"That's because she is!" Darla replied after a minute of watching Cindy's antics. "Cindy! You're wearing panties now!"

"Me pee and poop in potty!" She declared "Me BIG girl now! Me not wear diapers no more!

"That's Cindy she's two." Darla pointed out. "She was wearing diapers when I left. She's potty trained now."

"She's fucking proud of herself too." Megan said. "I told her she can't shit her panties no more because she's a fucking strike witch now. I showed her how to fucking use the potty stool once and she worked on it for three fucking days and learned all by herself. I'm fucking proud of her too."

"That's Megan." Darla told Fred "Don't let her foul language mislead you. She is really a sensitive and caring little girl. She has taken little Cindy under her wing and has worked hard to make her feel like she belongs. When Cindy was here the first night without her mother she cried and it was Megan who sat and hugged her and told her it was alright to cry. It was weird to listen to her. She swore like anything but her voice was so tender. Those two are inseparable now. Meggie says that Cindy will be a good witch and she's going to help her."

Fred looked out the windscreen at the little witches that surrounded his plane. The tiny witch that had been showing off her panties was now flying close to an older girl who looked to be around five. Cindy's Wasp familiar was obvious if a bit unusual the other girl's was some sort of mammal though he was not sure what it was. As he looked at the other girls there were a number of bird types a couple more mammals and one that looked like a turtle.

"That's quite the collection of familiars you girls have." Fred observed.

"Yeah" Darla agreed. "To the best of my knowledge we have the only witches that have reptiles for familiars and Tonya will make two and Cindy is the only known witch with insects for familiars."

"Hey Diana I have a bunch of weapons on board you guys have to help unload" Darla told her. "heavy stuff to mount on Tonya's striker."

"What kind of stuff?" Diana asked.

"A couple M2 Brownings plus a couple thousand rounds of ammo 6 HVAR tubes and about 3 dozen rockets." Darla said.

"What is she built like the Hulk?" Diana asked "That's some heavy stuff."

"Yeah what it is that since her striker is going to have to be a one piece unit I can mount it directly on the striker. She won't be able turn very well because she can't use her legs I figure she can work the weapons from the striker. She has projectile guidance so she can guide those rockets after launch. She has a good shield that will help."

"I'll put her with Wendy that way she can use her powerful shield to protect her." Diana said. "Sounds like she is going to be powerful."

"Yeah she is likely to have the most fire power of any airborne witch with the possible exception of some of the Karsland jet strikers." Darla agreed. "She will give you guys some real firepower now."

"Okay we'll land now and get things ready to unload." Diana told her. "Okay girls you heard Darla we got a plane to unload."

The nine little witches peeled off to land ahead of the transport plane. Fred watched the little witches as they flew away.

"They look awfully small to unload this plane our cargo is not exactly light." He said with a little concern in his voice.

"Don't under estimate them." Darla responded. "I know how heavy this stuff is. I think you are in for a surprise. Just have that camera ready. You are going to get some unreal footage."

The Witches since they were more maneuverable than the plane landed first and quickly had their strike units off by the time the Lockheed Electra had landed and taxied to the hanger. Fred was stunned by the group of little girls mostly four and five year olds and including two year old Cindy as he climbed down from the cockpit.

"Uh Darla?" He said. "Do you really think these little girls can unload that cargo by themselves?"

"Watch!" Darla giggled

Diana opened the cargo door of the plane while Fred got his camera ready.

"Okay girls let's unload this stuff." She announced.

The girls manifested their familiars. Cindy. Megan, Susie and Tracie swarmed into the plane while the other girls got ready out side. Megan was first carrying a box of .50 cal. ammo in each hand and dropping it on the door sill. Tracie followed also with a box in each hand. Susie also carried two ammo boxes. Tiny Cindy only had one. The older girls on the ground grabbed the ammo boxes as the younger girls dropped them on the door ledge. Fred was filming the girls as they unloaded the plane they were carrying ammo boxes that weighed almost as much as they did…TWO at a time. Even Cindy the two year old was carrying boxes that weighed more than she did!

"If I was not watching this I would not believe it." Fred mused.

Soon the machine gun rounds were transferred to the cargo carts. The rockets were next two tiny girls on each one. The weight of the rockets was double the combined weight of the two girls that carried them! The rockets were too heavy for little Cindy she started to help Tracie who was smaller than the other girls and Anne climbed up to help. Soon they had all the ammo and the M2 Brownings off the plane and on the carts. Fred watched as the last of the ordinance was unloaded and the carts rolled into the hanger. He lowered the camera.

"Those guys back home are going to be really surprised when they see this footage." He said.

"Yeah" Darla giggled.

Darla and Fred followed the little witches into the hanger to meet with them. Once they pulled in their magic they looked like a bunch of normal little girls…and acted like them too. Cindy walked up behind him and tugged on his jacket.

"Who you?" she asked a sweet little smile on her face.

Fred looked down at the tot and smiled.

"I'm General Frederick Cabanas." He told her. "And who are you?"

"Me Cindy!" she replied.

"Yes you are the little girl who potty trained her self right?" He said

"Me BIG girl now!" She declared. "Me TWO!"

"Yeah" He said picking her up. "You are pretty big at that."

Why you here?" she asked.

"Because the 555th Joint Fighter Wing is now officially part of the Conch Republic Air Force and I'm the commanding General." He told her.

"What dat mean?" Cindy asked.

"Well when we go to your briefing room I'll explain it all to you." He replied putting Cindy down.

Diana called the girls into the briefing room. As can be expected of girls that age they were loud and boisterous. Diana called them to order. They slowly settled down. Fred looked over this group. Diana stood at the front of the room while the other eight girls sat in chairs fidgeting a bit. This was going to take some work he thought. This group of girls was going to have to learn military Discipline. They had already displayed considerable skill as flyers. But that would not be enough.

"Girls I want to introduce General Frederick Cabanas He is now our commanding General. We are now officially in the Conch Republic Air force." She said. "Play time is over we are going to have to get serious now."

Diana stepped aside to let the General have the floor. Fred stood looking over the group.

"Thank you Diana." He began. "First off I must say I am impressed by your flying skills and the way you take orders….But you are going to have to be much more disciplined now. You have been doing well as a civilian test group. But that has changed. You are now in the military. You are going to have to learn discipline. I'm afraid that the way you took your seats today was very sloppy. I'm going to cut you some slack now because you have not had to follow military Discipline before. That has changed. I'm going to be discussing with Diana proper military procedures. Like how to salute and proper conduct toward your officers. This is likely to be harder than flying a striker. But learning Discipline is going to be vital to surviving combat. I realize that you are very young but that's beside the point. The truth is that in six months you will be facing the most dangerous enemy mankind has. If you are not disciplined…You'll die. It's late now and I know you need some sleep. But before I leave I will talk to you some more. You young ladies may be mankind's last hope. I want you succeed and I know you can…If you are willing to work at it. You're dismissed now I need to talk to Major Evans now."

The girls slowly filed out Diana stayed.

"You know you are putting a lot on some pretty young kids." She observed.

"Yeah I know" Fred replied. "This is much more than just poking fun at Washington. These little girls are going to war. I intend to see they are ready and come back alive. Darla told me how Cindy lost her father in Africa. I don't want to be writing ANY letters I especially don't want to be writing a letter to her mother."

"I don't either" Diana said with a frown.

"Well you are going to get a crash course on running a military unit." Fred told her. "I'm going to give you a basic course on military order and I'm going to leave some manuals to study."

Diana groaned at the idea of even more studying. They spent the next few hours cramming a lot of stuff in Diana's head. Until the little girl started to get a headache! Finally Fred turned in for the night sleeping in a bedroom right off the hanger. The girls were sleeping in a barracks not far from the hanger. He was awakened by loud banging He stumbled out of bed and pulled on some clothes to see what the ruckus was. He discovered that Darla was working on something mechanical.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"I have a striker to build." Darla replied. "I told Tonya I was going to get this ready for her as soon as possible. So you are going to make Diana crack down on the girls now?"

"Yeah playtimes over now" He said. "They are going to be fighting for real within six months. God help us we are sending little girls to war now."

Darla looked over the striker she was working on.

"I'm building this for a little girl in a wheel chair." She mused. "When I'm finished she is going to war. I don't feel any guilt about doing it…But I have to do it right. If this fails we are going to be hated by a lot of people."

"Yeah if Diana fails to come home I don't think I could bear it." Darla said. "That's why it's so important we do this right. She's commander of a combat unit now. And she's only Seven and a half! This is scary."

"Yeah It is." Fred agreed. "Well I might as well get dressed."

"Yeah watch the shower in there it can be a bit uneven as far as heat goes." Darla warned.

"Thanks" Fred responded.

Diana got the other girls up and started to train them in military conduct. It took Fred about an hour to shower shit and shave. When he was done he smelled sausage and eggs cooking he came out of the room and found Darla cooking breakfast.

"Well that smells good" He commented.

"Yeah to bad I don't know how to make biscuits and gravy yet." Darla said "Hopefully I'll learn that when we go back down with the striker for Tonya."

"Well I'm not too concerned with that right now." He replied.

Darla served up a plate full of sausage patties and three eggs for him and a similar one for herself. She placed them on a small table.

"I think cooking is as much fun as working on strikers." Darla stated.

Fred dug into the food he had been served.

"Well if you are as good at building strikers as you are as a cook. The girls don't have to worry about that." He said.

Darla blushed "Thanks

"Yup who ever marries you is going to be one lucky man" He said.

Darla really blushed at that.

"I'm a bit young for that yet." She finally said.

"This is true." Fred agreed. "I think I'm going to want you to meet my son next time you come down."

"So you are thinking that if I marry your son I'll be cooking for you?" Darla asked with a coy smile.

"Uh well maybe." Fred responded.

"Well I have a striker to work on." Darla announced as she finished her breakfast.

"Yeah" Fred replied blushing a bit.

Darla went back to the striker she was working on while Fred watched for a little while before getting up to find Diana. Diana had just finished dismissing the girls after running them through their first drill. She was walking back to the hanger when she encountered Fred. She snapped off a crisp salute as she walked up to him. He was somewhat surprised by it before he responded with his own salute.

"That was a bit of a surprise." He said

"Well you said yourself last night that we have to behave like we are in the military now." Diana replied. "If we want to be taken seriously we have to look and act the part."

Fred smiled he was pleased that at least Diana was taking him seriously.

"That's good to hear." He told her. "In half an hour have the girls in the briefing room I have some things to tell them before I leave."

"Yes Sir!" Diana responded with a crisp salute.

Fred returned her salute then went back to the airplane to retrieve his brief case He had some notes to write. He was going to need to get the kids sizes because he was going to have uniforms made up for them. Once he wrote the note to Cindy's mother he put it in an envelope. Then he went to the briefing room to meet with the girls. He was in for a surprise As he opened the door Diana barked out.

"Attention!"

All nine little girls snapped to attention and snapped off crisp salutes. Fred was dumbfounded All nine girls had good form even little Cindy. He returned their salute and told them to be seated.

"I'm impressed!" He began "I did not expect you to do this good this quick. You are already starting to look military. You will soon be looking even more so because I'm having uniforms made for you."

They were still little kids and responded with a cheer. Fred decided not to admonish them.

"I'm going to have to get your sizes." He told them. "Cindy I'll need to talk to you after the meeting you are going to be a special case and your uniform is going to handled a little differently from the other girls."

Cindy was puzzled by that.

"I was a little worried that you might be too young for the job." He said I think that I might have been premature with that judgment. I think that you are going to prove that we are right to put out faith in you. I think that you know that you have a lot of work ahead of you. I also know now that you are willing to do what has to be done to make the 555th into a powerful unit. I'm going to need to get your sizes for the uniforms. Cindy you are going to be handled differently because you have to have your clothes specially made. I'm going to have to have the lady who makes your clothes make your uniform so after getting the sizes of the other girls I have a message for you to give to your mother."

"Otay" Cindy replied.

After taking the sizes of the other girls mostly off the labels of the tops they had on He took Cindy aside. Megan followed. He pulled out the envelope.

"I need you to give this to your mother." He told her.

"I'll have to go with her" Megan announced. "She is not ready to fucking fly across Lake Superior alone."

"I guess not." He said. "You fly across Lake Superior?"

"All the time" Megan replied.

Fred smiled and turned to Diana.

"You have a lot of work ahead of you major." He told her. "In about six months this unit is going to war."

He saluted her and she returned the salute. Fred turned and went back to his airplane and after waving to the girls who were there took off for the flight back to the Conch Republic. Cindy and Megan mounted their strikers and flew north to Cindy's house. They arrived there about half an hour later. Sandra heard the familiar sound of striker units. She came outside and met her daughter and Megan. After dismounting their strikers Cindy handed Sandra the letter from General Cabanas. Sandra opened it and started to read what it said she was surprised to discover that he expected her to have the uniform made for Cindy and included a picture of the uniform then she found the money inside and almost fainted .Megan asked what was wrong. She held out the five twenty dollar bills.

"He wants to have a uniform made for Cindy. And he gave me this to pay for it." Sandra announced

They went to the seamstress who had been making the custom clothes for Cindy and showed her the picture and told her that she wanted to have uniforms like that made for Cindy. She told Sandra that the tops would cost Fifteen dollars each. Sandra pulled out $60 and asked for four and wanted to have some other tops made as well bringing out the other $40.

So on April 11 1945 the 555th Joint fighter Wing started to prepare for war.


	2. Chapter 2 roster

**Diana Evans**

**Age: **8

**Date of Birth: **June 25 1938

**Affiliation: **Upper Peninsula Aero Striker Research Center.

Conch Republic Air Force

**Rank:** (1945) Major

**Height: **129cm / 50 inches

**Striker Unit model: **Grumman F6F Hellcat

**Weapons: **Browning BAR

**Familiar:** Bald Eagle

**Background**

Diana is the younger sister of Darla Evans the lead researcher at the Upper Peninsula Aero Striker Research Center. The UPASRC was formed to research equipping younger witches with Striker Units. The reason for the location of the UPASRC in Michigan's Upper Peninsula was because most of the recent appearance of little girls manifesting magical abilities at very young ages is appearing in that area. The creation of the research center was to explore the use of these younger girls as Strike Witches. Diana's abilities first manifested themselves shortly before her fifth birthday. The little girl became the UPASRC's first test pilot. She quickly showed considerable skill as well as a natural aptitude for command. As other little girls were recruited they were formed into the 555th Joint Fighter Wing and Diana was given command of the new unit as it was formed. When the governments of The United States of Liberion and the Faraway Land Dominion rejected the idea of Strike Witches less than ten years old The Conch Republic offered to sponsor the unit and provide a carrier for it. Diana was commissioned as a major in the CRAF and given official command of the 555th JFW. Most other countries do not recognize the Conch Republic not to mention the ranks of its service people. But since they do provide material support for the 555th JFW as well as the JRNS Calypso; an old freighter converted into a small CVE type aircraft carrier the girls and the UPASRC are glad to have the help and have taken on the Conchs irreverent attitude toward governments in general and the government of the United States in particular.

Diana has the power of extended vision enabling her to see much farther than usual. She is able to identify aircraft types as far as fifty miles away for instance. She uses this power during training sessions with the other witches in the 555th to direct them to the practice targets and to coordinate their movements. She is unusual in that her power is in both eyes and she does not need to wear an eye patch to prevent headaches caused by uneven vision. Even before actually seeing combat Diana showed a good head for strategy and tactics. Diana has a respectable shield but her real skill in combat is her ability to spot and exploit vulnerable points in her targets. She also is good at directing her wing mates to the best ways to take out their targets.

Diana is slender with long blond hair that she usually wears in a pony tail. She is normally polite and soft spoken, but when she has to be she can be quite firm though. She is an iron fist in a velvet glove. While easily approached by her subordinates, when she has to she can put her foot down hard. She has earned the respect both of her subordanents and her superiors. When Diana manifests her magic she grows a feathered tail like an eagle and white feathers appear on her head.

**Wendy O'Brian**

**Age: **5

**Date of Birth: **May 15 1940

**Affiliation: **Upper Peninsula Aero Striker Research Center

Conch Republic Air Force

**Rank: (1945) **Captain

**Height: **108cm / 42 inches

**Striker Unit model: **Grumman F4F Wildcat

**Weapon: **Fedorov Avtomat M1916

**Familiar: **Eastern Painted Turtle

**Background:**

Wendy was one of the first girls Diana recruited into the 555th JFW. A chubby girl with short curly red hair she proved to be a rather powerful witch with a very strong shield and powerful healing magic. She is the commander of Beta Flight of the 555th JFW. She uses her powerful shield to provide protection to Tonya's less maneuverable Douglas Havoc to allow the more heavily armed witch to get within range of the neuroi where she can bring the Havoc's twin Browning M2s and six HVARs to bear. Working as a team they have proven to be quite formidable. Wendy is easy going and gets along with just about anybody. Between her shield and healing power she keeps the 555th in action in spite of the small size of the individual members. Her Fedorov Avtomat is somewhat low powered for fighting neuroi but because of her small size that is the most powerful weapon she can handle.

Wendy first demonstrated magical abilities shortly after her third birthday. The turtle that is her familiar is unusual, few familiars are cold blooded. When Wendy manifests her magic she has the turtle's tail and her back becomes hard and scaly in a manner similar to the turtle's shell. Yellow and red markings similar to what are on the Eastern Painted Turtle also form on her neck and cheeks.

**Tracie Osborn**

**Age: **5

**Date of Birth: **June 23 1940

**Affiliation: **Upper Peninsula Aero Striker Research Center

Conch Republic Air Force

**Rank: (1945) **Sergeant

**Height:** 99cm / 39 inches

**Striker Unit model: **Grumman F4F Wildcat

**Weapon: **Fedorov Avtomat M1916

**Familiar: **Mallard Duck

**Background:**

Tracie was recruited by Wendy when she manifested her power shortly before she turned four. She is a tiny blond, small for her age and could easily pass for four. She is a fairly good fighter with a decent shield and good skills but what makes her valuable is her ability to take a brief look at a map once and be able to find her way from any location on that map to another. This power is not affected by clouds, darkness or flights over water or terrain with few features. She also is able to fly long distances making her useful for deep re-con and providing long range escort for bombers. She is normally friendly but quiet and a bit shy.

She found her familiar one day when a flock of mallard ducks came close to shore and she ran toward them. Usually when she did this the would scatter but this time one stood and waited for her to come up and when she touched him she displayed the feathered head and tail of the duck. Several members of her family saw this and knew immediately that she was a witch. When she manifests her magic she grows a feathered tail like a duck and green feathers on her head. She is a member of Beta Flight of the 555th JFW

**Latonya (Tonya) Morris**

**Age: **6

**Date of Birth: **April 9 1939

**Affiliation:** Conch Republic Air Force

**Rank: (1945) **Sergeant

**Height: **(If she could stand) 115cm / 45 inches.

**Striker Unit model: **Douglas A-20 Havoc (one piece)

**Weapons: **2 M2 Browning Machine guns

6 HVAR

Avtomat M1916

**Familiar: **Florida Alligator

**Background: **

Latonya had always wanted to be a strike witch ever since she manifested magic powers shortly after turning four. But her legs were paralyzed after contracting polio at age two. However news had come to the Conch Republic about work of the UPASRC and the fitting of VERY young witches with striker units. Secretary General Peter Anderson met with Rear Admiral Finbar Gittelman head of the Conch Republic Navy and General of the Air Force Fred R. Cabanas with a plan to supply the young witches with an Escort carrier and sponsor a joint fighter wing if they could help Latonya become a strike witch. Darla Evans head of UPASRC went down there to check the girl out. Darla loving challenges realized that with her power Latonya could operate a specially designed Striker Unit. Once Darla told them she could they released funds to equip the little witches and the 555th JFW became officially part of the Conch Republic Air Force with all of the girls given uniforms and ranks. Latonya or Tonya as she preferred to be addressed was soon equipped with the first ever one piece striker unit. While lacking the maneuverability of the two piece units she could carry a far more powerful armament making Tonya the heavy hammer of the 555th. The twin M2 Brownings are mounted on a scarf ring attached to the front of her striker and the HVARs are loaded in tubes three mounted on each side of her striker unit. She also carries a Fedorov M1916 as her personal weapon in addition to the weapons mounted on her striker unit.

Tonya is confined to a wheel chair. She is a dark skinned black girl. Initially Darla was worried that she might have problems with the other girls most of whom had never even seen a black person before. But Tonya's cheerful personality and refusal to let her condition get her down impressed the other girls. That and her tolerance helped her become accepted. Even when the youngest witch grabbed her arm and rubbed it to see it the color would come off she let the toddler check it out and then calmly told Cindy after she rubbed it for several seconds that it was her real skin color and did not come off.

Tonya's alligator was actually given her by her brother…or rather he threw it in her lap to scare her. He got the shock of his life when instead of scaring her she immediately spouted the tail and scales of the alligator then she grabbed a pop bottle off the table and threw it at him and despite of the fact that she normally could not hit the broad side of a barn the bottle tracked him and nailed him upside the head. When he returned fire she threw up a shield and blocked it. After a brief exchange of thrown objects where everything she threw hit no matter how much he evaded and she blocked everything he threw with her shield their mother came in the see what all the commotion was about and saw the manifestation of her familiar and Daren had a bunch of lumps on his head. Tonya was a bit surprised with her new powers but quickly figured out that she could pitch baseballs like nobodies business. And that she could pretty much neutralize any of her brother's attacks.

When Tonya manifests her magic she grows an alligator's tail and heavy scales form on her neck and back. Tonya has the Projectile Guidance Power. She can guide any type of projectile she launches from thrown objects to the rockets from her rocket launcher. Since the HVAR carries a rather large warhead and has a high speed she is a deadly foe to even large class neuroi. She is a member of Beta Flight of the 555th JFW

**Darla Evans**

**Age: **13

**Date of Birth: **September 15 1932

**Affiliation: **Upper Peninsula Aero Striker Research Center

**Rank: (1945) **Head research mechanic

**Height: **157cm / 62 inches

**Background: **

While not a witch per sae Darla is sensitive to magic auras and can determine their strength. Darla displayed considerable mechanical skills at a very early stage. She was working on her tricycle before she was even out of diapers... By age 5 she was helping her father and neighbors work on cars, trucks and tractors. She found out about strikers soon after. She is an avid reader and has read every thing she could find about Ichiro Miyafuji. Indeed she actually knows more about him than his own daughter does. Darla worships him and is sad about the fact that he died before she could meet him. She would love to meet Yoshika Miyafuji as she feels that being his daughter Yoshika would be able to tell many things about her late father. Darla likes to think of her own work as a tribute to Ichiro Miyafuji.

Darla is slender with an athletic build. She has blue eyes and long blond hair that she normally keeps braided down her back. When working she will curl the braid up, pile it on top of her head and pin it in place. Normally she wears mechanics coveralls. When she has to be in public she usually wears dresses. She is soft spoken and friendly She loves a challenge and creates striker units that little girls can use something nobody else does, for the same reason she built the special one piece striker for Latonya Morris and later modified the leg braces for Tanisha Collins another witch who also had polio so she could take them off fast. She made additional modifications to her Striker cradle so Tanisha could easily mount her striker units once her braces were off.

**CRNS Calypso**

**Displacement: **5500 tons

**Length: **465 feet / 141.7 m (WL)

**Beam:** 56 feet/ 17.06 m (WL)

**Draught; **18 feet/ 5.48 m

**Machinery; **1 shaft VTE 4500hp 18 coal fired cylindrical boilers=15 knots

**Armament: **16 1.1 inch/ 28 mm guns (4x4)

**Aircraft: **6 fixed wing up to 30 Strike Witches.

**Flight deck**

**Length: **500 feet/ 152.4 m

**Width: **75 foot/ 22.86 m

The SS Calypso was state of the art when it was laid down in 1894 and completed two years later... Fifty years later it was pretty worn out. So when it hit a bridge and flattened most of the super structure the decision was made to sell it for scrap. When Conch Republic Secretary General Peter Anderson heard about it he bought it for the scrap value. It was a simple matter to remove what little super structure was left down to the main deck level, which became the hanger deck. Because the coal fired boilers create so much smoke that even though the exhaust is trucked to the island on the starboard side the hanger is split by the ductwork. The Witches have the front part and can launch off the forecastle directly with out going up to the flight deck though most of the time they use the flight deck for landings. The fixed winged planes use the rear hanger. Because the island is so large and heavy to accommodate the large funnel required by the coal burning boilers the flight deck has an angled section over-hanging the port side that acts as a counter weight but also allows for the fixed winged airplanes to operate at the same time as the strike witches with-out them interfering with each other.

The defensive AA guns are an old design that is under powered for their weight The four quad mounts are located at either end of the large island and at the port side of the flight deck at the bow and stern. The machinery is basically worn out and has frequent break downs. There is no radar and the radios are basic.

The air group in addition to the witches consists of four Grumman F3F biplane fighters modified with 1000 hp Wright 1820 Cyclone engines. The increased power of the larger engines allows a heavier armament of two nose mounted .50 cal M2 Brownings synchronized to fire through the propeller arc and 4 HVARs two under each lower wing and a top speed of 265 mph. These planes are considered to be part of the 555th JFW and are called Gamma flight. The other two are navalized Westland Lysanders with folding wings and arrester hooks that are used for COD flights. These are considered to be the carrier's planes rather than being part of the 555th.

**Megan Wilson**

**Age: **5

**Birthday: **April 20 1940

**Affiliations: **Upper Peninsula Aero Striker Research Center

Conch Republic Air Force

**Rank (1945) **Captain

**Height: **110cm/ 43 inches.

**Striker unit model:** Broom,

Grumman F4F Wildcat

**Weapon: **Browning BAR

**Familiar: **Wolverine

**Background: **Alexis Wilson decided that there might be something special about Megan one day when she walked into the living room after washing dishes and found the then three and a half year-old playing with a full grown wolverine! She noticed that the toddler showed no signs of injury and everything in the room was intact and undamaged. Since wolverines have a strong reputation for being viscous and highly destructive the fact that this one was laying on its back with Megan's head on its belly indicated that something unusual was going on. She quietly slipped out the side door and went to the home of Lillian Lefey an older woman of Gallian ancestry who was reported to have been a witch and some people claimed she could still fly a broom. Alexis walked over to Lillian's House and told her about Megan and her new friend. Lillian agreed to come over and check it out. Alexis let her in the side door and they entered the living room through the kitchen. While they had been out Megan and the wolverine had changed position and were now cuddling face to face. When the two women entered the room a magic circle appeared under the tot and her friend and Megan sprouted the ears and tail of a wolverine confirming the little girl was now a witch and the wolverine was her familiar. Lillian took the little girl over to her house the next day and started to teach her how to ride a broom. Megan proved to be a quick learner and was soon flying all around the area. News about yet another toddler witch soon reached UPASRC. Diana flew across Lake Superior on her striker and had little difficulty persuading Megan and her family to let her become a Strike Witch and brought her by boat from the Far Away Land Dominion to Houghton Michigan.

Megan is a muscular little girl with a cute face and long brown hair. She also uses language that would make a Marine blush. She has enhanced strength and can cause the air around her to form a hard mass that can be used as a battering ram. Megan has a hot temper and swears a lot but if you can get past the mouth and the temper you discover that she is in fact a caring sensitive girl that has a protective attitude toward others. She has a special relationship with little Cindy. Cindy will do anything for Megan and at the same time Megan is very skilled at keeping the hot headed tot under control and Cindy looks up to the foul mouthed Captain. She is the commander of Alpha Flight of the 555th JFW

**Susan Garibaldi**

**Age: **5

**Birthday: **June 8 1940

**Affiliations: **Upper Peninsula Aero Striker Research Center

Conch Republic Air Force

**Rank: **Sergeant

**Height: **108cm / 42inches.

**Striker Unit type: **Broom,

Grumman F4F Wildcat

**Weapon:** Fedorov Avtomat M1916

**Familiar: **Little Brown Bat

**Background: **Susan or Susie as she prefers to be called is a skinny little girl with long brown hair. Some people say she is skinny because she talks so much that she burns off the weight. Her mother likes to say she was vaccinated with a Victrola needle. Susie is a friendly little girl who will talk to anybody…and talk and talk and talk!

Susie manifested her power around her fourth birthday. She had actually been a witch for several days before anybody found out. Her mother found out when she was cleaning the bedroom and found a bat hanging under Susie's bed and started to freak out. Susie told her that the bat was hers and manifested her powers. Susie was not even fully aware that she was a witch at the time. But that soon changed as her mother told her what it all meant. Once they did she was taken over to see Lillian and learn how to fly a broom. When she calls up her magic she gets the ears and webbed tail of the little brown bat. She can receive and transmit radio signals. She sprouts glowing appendages that resemble multi-element antenna. She can use her power like radar or to extend the range and power of the intercom unit. Susie will often stand on the bridge roof of the Calypso to act as an early warning radar. She knows Megan Wilson and was recruited by her and is a member of Alpha flight of the 555th JFW

**Cynthia (Cindy) Jablonski**

**Age: **2 ½

**Birthday: **January 18 1943

**Affiliations: **Upper Peninsula Aero Striker Research Canter

Conch Republic Air Force

**Rank: **Corporal

**Height: **89cm/ 35 inches

**Striker Unit type: **Broom,

Boeing P-26 Peashooter

**Weapon: **US M2 Carbine

**Familiar: **Yellow Jacket Wasp nest

**Background:** The discovery that little Cindy had become a witch was a rather unsettling experience for her mother. It was shortly after her second birthday when the young widow heard a loud buzzing noise coming out of her daughter's bedroom. She opened the door and was horrified to discover that Cindy had brought a piece of wood that had a large Yellow Jacket nest attached to it into her room and leaned it up against her bed. Sandra was horrified to see the viscous wasps swarming all over her baby. Cindy at the time was only wearing a diaper and had wasps all over her body. Cindy looked up and smiled.

"Wookie Mommy! Me got new fwiends!" the toddler chirped.

Sandra was more than a little upset to see Cindy covered with the hot tempered wasps. She knew that while not the largest wasps Yellow jackets were easily the most viscous and seeing them all over her little girl was rather upsetting.

"Cindy please be careful." She pleaded. "Those are wasps! They are NOT your friends."

Cindy had always been stubborn, she had become even more so after her Marine father had been killed in the North African Campaign. She leaped off the bed, as she did so wasp like antenna sprouted out of the front of her head just above the hair line, wasp-like wings sprouted out of her back and she grew a tail like a wasp complete with stinger. A magic circle formed on the floor under her and she threw up a shield.

"Dey are TOO!" she shouted.

Sandra slowly backed out of the room closing the door as she did so. She stood outside the closed door for a moment trying to figure out what to do next and then she remembered that a neighbor had discovered about a year ago that her daughter was a witch after finding her in the living room cuddling with a full grown wolverine. Sandra went over to talk to Alexis Wilson and told her about Cindy and the wasps. And how she manifested wasp antenna, wings and tail and threw up a shield. Alexis agreed that it sounded like Cindy might be a witch. Alexis brought Sandra to the home of Lillian Lefey to tell her about little Cindy and the wasps. Lillian was a bit puzzled by what they told her. While Cindy was showing the powers of a witch the wasp thing did not make sense. Familiars were most commonly mammals with some birds though there was a recent report of one girl with a turtle for a familiar. But insects were WAY beyond the norm. When the door to Cindy's bedroom was opened the toddler immediately took a defensive stance manifesting her familiar's features. Lillian knew right then and there that the toddler was a witch and the yellow jackets were indeed her familiar. Lillian knew the first thing she needed to do was set the little girl's mind at ease.

"I like your friends Cindy." She told her "Which one likes you?"

"Dey aw wike me!" Cindy told her.

Lillian smiled. From what Cindy just said the entire nest was her familiar so that it was the nest not just a single wasp that was her familiar so she would not lose her power on the death of a single wasp that only survives a few months.

"I have good news and bad news." She announced. "The wasps will not harm Cindy…But you have to protect them because they are her familiar now and if they are harmed she will suffer too."

"Great, just great!" Sandra exclaimed "So you're telling me that now I am going to have to risk getting stung all the time now."

"Not really." Lillian replied. "You are Cindy's mother they will not harm you."

"Dey wike you Mommy" Cindy said.

Several of the wasps flew from Cindy and landed on her mother. Sandra shuddered as the insects crawled over her.

"See mommy, Dey wike you." Cindy assured her. "Dey not hurt you."

"Yeah Meggie's wolverine lets me pet her too." Alexis informed her. "That's how I found out she's female."

"Oh that's SO reassuring." Sandra replied as she watched several wasps crawling over her arms and chest.

"Well the next thing is for her to fly a broom like Meggie." Alexis told her.

"Fwy bwoom?" Cindy said. "Me want fwy bwoom!"

"I think we might have a problem." Lillian observed. "With those wings Cindy is not going to be able to wear a regular top. We are going to have to wrap a towel around her."

Sandra gave Lillian a side ways look.

"Uh we are talking about a VERY active two year old." Sandra pointed out. "How many seconds do you think that towel would stay wrapped around her especially when she is on a broom!"

''"ME WANT FWY BROOM!" Cindy started to yell.

"Get me an apron from the kitchen." Alexis said. "Preferably a short one with a chest piece I have an idea."

Sandra went to the kitchen and came back with a short frilly one with a chest piece. Alexis looked it over.

"I think this will work." She said.

Alexis walked over to Cindy and put it on her and pulled the chest piece up until it was just below the base of the tot's neck then she tied the rest around her the lower part completely covering her legs down to mid calf.

"Now she looks decent." Alexis said

They three women took Cindy over to Lillian's house where she went and got two brooms and handed one to Cindy. The toddler eagerly took it and put it between her legs.

"Fwy bwoom! She exclaimed.

Lillian started to explain how to use the broom. She was not even finished before Cindy was airborne! Within seconds the toddler was over one hundred feet in the air! Lillian quickly grabbed her broom and took off in pursuit. By the time she caught up to the tiny witch she had gained another hundred feet in attitude and was a half mile away from her starting point. Cindy was having the time of her life and was not the least bit scared. Back on the ground Sandra was a nervous wreck; her baby was by this time barely visible. Alexis walked up behind her and put her arms around her shoulders and whispered in her ear.

"It's alright, Meggie was not that much older than Cindy when she first flew." She told her.

Alexis did not bother to tell her that Megan had not flown as fast, far or high her first time she figured that Sandra did not need to know that. Cindy in the mean time was executing some very complex maneuvers Lillian was amazed that this tiny tot still in diapers was able to fly like that. It became clear that she had the rare agility power and it quickly became apparent that this power was augmented by the small wings on her back. Eventually Cindy started to tire and agreed to fly back. Sandra ran up to her after she landed and hugged her.

"You scared me." She quietly said.

"Me fwy weal good!" Cindy proudly declared.

"Your daughter is amazing." Lillian told her. "She has the agility power and her wings augment that. She could be the most maneuverable witch I have ever seen. She has the potential to be an incredible Strike Witch."

"Well for now I think we'll stick with brooms." Sandra said.

"Yes." Lillian agreed. "Cindy you can keep that broom."

"Yay!" Cindy shouted.

"Cindy!" Sandra barked in the tone mothers use when a child is supposed to do something. "What do you say?"

Cindy smiled this sweet little smile.

"'Tank you Mrs. Wefay." She chirped.

"You're welcome Cindy." Lillian replied. "I must say I'm impressed by how polite she is."

"Thank you." Sandra said blushing. "She has a lot of her late father in her."

"Neuwoi kill my daddy!" Cindy angrily declared," Me want kill aw neuwoi!"

Sandra face quickly went from red to white as she heard Cindy declare she wanted to kill all neuroi right after becoming a witch. Her nerves were still raw after losing him hearing Cindy's announcement right after becoming a witch was rather unsettling.

"Well Cindy should a bit tired now anyway." Lillian said "she did a lot of flying for her first day."

Almost as if on cue Cindy yawned

"Yeah I think you're right." Sandra agreed. "Thanks for the help. I think things will be easier now. Now somebody needs a nap."

Cindy nodded and started to slowly fly home. Sandra followed Cindy opened the door and flew straight to her bedroom and landed on her bed. Sandra came in just in time to catch the board with Cindy's wasp nest and prevent it from hitting the floor.

"Cindy you have to be more careful" Sandra admonished. "You almost knocked your wasps on the floor you could have hurt them!"

Sandra leaned the wasp nest up against the bed post and the wasps came swarming out and landed all over her…But it was clear this was not an angry swarm. It was more like they were thanking her. Sandra took a couple wire hangers and used them to secure the wasp nest to Cindy's bed. After securing the wasp nest she looked over at Cindy who was sound asleep with out even taking off the apron come dress. She slowly stood up.

"Guys I have things to do." She said not expecting much.

To her surprise the wasps took off amass and landed back on the nest. She smiled and left the room closing the door behind her. She went to the kitchen and took an apple out of the bowl on the kitchen table and sliced it into quarters then she took one of the quarters and cut it in half and put it on a saucer. Then she went to the refrigerator and cut off a grape sized piece of meat and put it on the saucer. She then took it back to Cindy's bedroom and opened the door.

"Dinner time!" She called out as she put the saucer on the floor.

The wasps flew out of their nest and waited while Sandra stepped back then swarmed over their meal. Sandra looked over at her daughter sleeping peacefully then at the wasps feeding on the floor…HER wasps. Sandra slowly closed the door it had been a strange day. Cindy woke up from her nap a few hours later. Things were pretty much normal…other than the wasp nest attached to her bed. The next day Sandra took Cindy down to the seamstress to have a dress modified and find out how much it would cost to have other clothes made or modified to fit her unique additions. She put Cindy up on a counter and pulled off her dress leaving her in only her diaper. The seamstress started to protest that it was not necessary for Cindy to strip. Then Sandra told her to call up her magic. The seamstress was shocked when Cindy sprouted antenna from her head wings on her back and a wasp tail complete with stinger.

"Cindy's a witch." Sandra explained. "She just came out yesterday. I need clothes she can wear when she is like this which I have a feeling is going to be often."

The seamstress looked over her wings.

"Is she going to be like this when she puts her dress on?" She asked

"No she can pull her extra appendages in when she is not using her magic." Sandra replied.

The seamstress then looked down at Cindy's tail with its stinger.

"Does her stinger have venom?" She nervously asked.

"I don't know yet." Sandra replied.

Cindy could tell that her stinger was making the women nervous. She called back her magic and the extra appendages were pulled back in.

"Me not want 'ting you." She assured them

The seamstress gave and audible sigh of relief.

"Well I can modify her dress and other clothes but ones that are custom made would fit better and last longer. But as fast as she is going to grow that should not be too much of a problem" She told her.

"Okay we'll start with this first then see what I can afford." Sandra said. "Danny's pension is not that large"

The seamstress nodded and after making a few measurements cut two slits in the .back and went over to her sewing machine and sewed the edges of the slits like a giant button hole. She soon had it ready Cindy held her arms up in the air without even needing to be told. As soon as the dress was in place she called up her magic. Her winds slid out perfectly her tail came down to the hem of the dress. Cindy jumped down from the counter and looked at her self in the mirror.

"Me WIKE!" she exclaimed.

Cindy darted out the door while her mother paid for the work on the dress and discussed how much it would cost to have more work done. When her mother came out Cindy had her broom and was flying around…giving people on the ground a good diaper shot.

"I think that shorts and blouses are probably a better combination." Sandra observed.

Sandra had gotten used to the new normal of little Cindy flying around on her broom and a Yellow Jacket nest in her bedroom. That was about to change. Megan Wilson liked to fly in to see her family on a regular basis. About a week after Cindy had started to fly her broom Megan made one of her visits. Both girls spotted each other at the same time. Sandra watched as her toddler and the preschooler hovered about 250 feet above the ground when Megan took off and headed south. Sandra figured it was no big deal. She could not have been more wrong. Megan had talked to her about being a strike witch and Cindy was interested. A couple hours later Sandra heard striker units again and came out to see a third little girl also flying strikers had come back with Megan The three talked for a bit when Cindy suddenly made a high speed dive and pulled up just short of the ground in front of Sandra! She started to scream.

"ME WANT FWY STWIKER! ME WANT FWY STWIKER! ME WANT FWY STWIKER! She screamed over and over again.

The two other witches landed on either side of her and after some doing finally got her calmed down enough to have a conversation. It was then that Sandra discovered to her horror that the reason Cindy wanted to fly strikers was to get revenge for the death of her father. Sandra was still hurting over the loss of her husband on a few months back…Now her tiny two year old daughter wanted to go after the neuroi who killed him! It was more than the young widow could bear. Alexis came over at that point having heard the striker units and wandering what was going on. She arrived just in time for Sandra to grab her and bury her face on her shoulder sobbing uncontrollably.

"What happened?" Alexis asked stunned by Sandra's behavior.

'

"Cindy wants to go after those fucking Neuroi." Megan responded. "She wants to fucking avenge her father by killing all those fucking Neuroi."

"She's just a baby!" Sandra sobbed. "She's too little. She's all I have."

"Me want kill aw neuwoi for daddy." Cindy declared.

Megan powered down her strikers and pulled Cindy up close to her and wrapped her arms around the younger girl. Lillian Lefey came to see what was happening with the growing crowd and arrived just in time to hear Megan try to explain to Cindy's mother what was going on.

"Cindy needs to kill all the fucking neuroi for her daddy," Megan said "because she fucking can."

"It's better for her to face the neuroi with a gun in her hands and strikers on her legs than be defenseless like those poor kids in Europe. They're dead now." Diana said. "We are mankind's last chance."

Stunned all three of the adult women turned and stared at the seven year old girl. The words she said were harsh but they slowly realized that they also had some truth to them. Sandra looked at the three little girls Seven year old Diana with her long blond hair and sweet but intelligent look. Megan not quite five cute faced but foul mouthed …still she was sweet in her own way. Both the older girls wear wearing strikers. And finally little Cindy she was only two but she was already using a broom with unreal skill. Now she wanted to join the older girls.

"Cindy, you are only two. They killed your daddy I don't want to loose you too." Sandra told her.

"Me not want you lose me too." Cindy said "But me got dis." Cindy threw up her shield. "Daddy no have shield Dat why he dead. Me got one me not die."

Sandra looked at her little girl still clutching her broom. At the same time one not much older than her was wearing strikers and hugging the smaller witch.

"You really want to go there don't you?" Sandra asked her.

Cindy nodded in reply.

"Okay I'll let you." Sandra said. "I guess Meggie is not the youngest witch any more."

"I never was the fucking smallest witch!" Megan blurted out.

"That's right Wendy O' Brian was our second witch and she is younger than Meggie and was younger when she was recruited. Tracie Osborn is younger too. So is Susie Garibaldi." Diana pointed out.

"Yeah Meggie is actually one of the older witches." Alexis pointed out. "She is also one of the more experienced ones."

"I was the third girl to be recruited." Megan said

"Look Darla has a big fast boat. Why don't you guys come to our base tomorrow and see what goes on for yourselves." Diana offered." That way you have a better idea what it's all about."

"I'd like to come too" Lillian said. "if you don't mind."

Diana looked at her for a moment.

""You're Lillian Lefey." She replied. "Darla has heard a lot about you. I know she has wanted to meet you for a while. She'd like that. Now even as fast as the boat is the trip takes four or five hours so you'll be staying over night so bring an over night bag."

After a few more minutes of discussion Diana and Megan took off and flew south. Neither Cindy now Sandra slept well that night. Cindy was looking forward to being a strike witch and Sandra was filled with dread at the prospect of her baby going to war. The next day was warm for early April when the women got up. They had decided the night before to meet for breakfast at Lillian's house where she told them about what being a witch was like. Alexis already had some idea from Megan. Sandra listened with rapt fascination since Cindy was a new witch. Cindy was quite interested as well since they were talking about things that would be happening to her. After discussing what it would be like as the witches got older as well as Cindy's unusual familiars They got their luggage together and went down to the dock to wait for Darla. She arrived about 2:30 apologizing for being late but she decided to refuel before picking them up so that would be out of the way. She had Megan with her who introduced Darla to Cindy, Lillian and Sandra. Darla noticed a tear rolling down Sandra's cheek.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"M…My b…baby's going to war." She sobbed. "And I can't stop her."

"If you don't think she's ready she doesn't have to go." Darla said "We can wait until she's bigger."

Cindy exploded in rage! She immediately manifested her familiar as well as a new power…Toddler Rage! Her hands balled up into tiny fists, her hair stuck out like a mane, her eyes almost seemed to glow with rage!

"ME KILL AW NEUWOI!" She screamed at the top of her lungs! "ME GO NOW!"

She stood shaking with rage. She was so scary that Megan called up her familiar and threw up her shield.

"No I won't stop you." Sandra said "You can go."

Cindy calmed down and called in her power. Megan dropped her shield and called in her magic.

"What the fuck!" Megan exclaimed. "You scared the fucking SHIT out of me!"

Cindy looked down "Me sowwy."

"Cindy, you are very powerful." Darla told her. "But you have to be careful with your power. You could hurt or even kill somebody if you are not careful. You don't want to do that do you?"

Cindy stood for a moment…Then burst into tears.

"Me no want hurt people." She sobbed.

Then she went and apologized to each person in turn. When she got to Megan the older girl hugged her.

"I know you don't want to fucking hurt anybody." She said tenderly. "You have to be fucking careful you are really fucking powerful. I'll help you."

Megan tussled the toddler's hair then looked up at Darla.

"I'll fucking take her in my flight I think I can deal with her." She announced.

"Well that's Diana's decision she's the commander." Darla replied. "But I have a feeling that she'll go for it."

Darla saw Lillian and walked called out to her.

"You must be Lillian Lefey. I'm Darla Evans the girls have told me so much about you. I'm glad I finally get to meet you."

"I'm glad to finally meet you too." Lillian replied. "I have heard a lot about you too."

"I hope what you've heard about me is as good as what I have heard about you." Darla said as she offered her hand to help her board the boat.

."Well if it's as good as what I have heard about you then it would be." Lillian replied.

"Well Megan speaks highly about both of you." Alexis pointed out.

Megan was lifting Cindy onto the boat when her mother mentioned how Megan spoke about Darla and Lillian.

"Well they are fucking nice to me." She said. "I like them."

Soon everybody was onboard Darla's cabin cruiser. And she slowly pulled away from the dock and headed across Lake Superior Megan took Cindy with her to the cabin. She did not like being on the water because she could not swim. She had tried to learn but her body was too dense. Cindy for her part had put out a bit of magic energy when she had gone into her rage. She fell asleep with her head in Megan's lap. The women gathered on the bridge deck where Darla was in the cockpit. The conversation had started reassuring Sandra that it was okay for Cindy to join the other girls in the 555th. Sandra was only partially reassured. Darla and Lillian soon changed the topic to discussing the various ins and outs of magic and strikers. Alexis and Sandra listened to Darla and Lillian talk about how their daughters would function as strike witches. The information was both reassuring and frightening. After several hours they heard the sound of striker units. Diana had arrived with Tracie. It was no accident that Diana had Tracie with her either. She figured that since she was the smallest witch and not much larger than Cindy that hopefully seeing another small witch would help Sandra accept Cindy becoming a strike witch. Sandra watched as the two blond haired girls approached the boat. She recognized Diana from the day before. The other girl was one she had never seen before. She looked like she was around three.

"That's Tracie." Darla informed them. "Right now she is the youngest and smallest Strike Witch."

By this time the sound of the strikers had awakened Cindy and she and Megan came out of the cabin. Megan looked up and saw Diana and Tracie and pointed them out to Cindy.

"Tracie is younger than me." She told Cindy. "She's the fucking smallest witch. At least until you come.

Cindy waved at Tracie who waved back. Sandra watched Tracie as she flew around the boat.

"She's not much bigger than Cindy." She observed.

Yeah she has been flying strikers for about a year now." Darla pointed out. "She's a local girl and has not flown a broom. A lot of the girls jumped straight to strikers. I think the broom makes it easier to get used to flying strikers. We should be docking in less than an hour."

Diana and Tracie flew around the boat for a few minutes longer. The boat was too small for them to land on with all the people and it was had to talk over the noise the strikers made so after talking a bit to Darla over the radio and verifying how many guests they had for dinner the girls flew off to make sure every thing was ready at the base. About 45 minutes later the boat docked. Several of the girls met it at the dock including Tracie, Wendy, Diana and Susie. Sandra was a bit surprised by how young the other girls were. While older than Cindy they were not that much older. Tracie especially looked young. She was four and a half but looked about a year younger. The women and girls disembarked…Megan in particular was glad to have dry land under her feet again.

"Welcome to the Upper Peninsula Aero Striker Research Center." Darla said. "This is the home of the 555th Joint Fighter Wing.

Tracie looked over to Cindy and walked over to her. Even though she was twice the toddlers age she was small for her age and was not that much larger as a result. It was Cindy who took the initiative.

"My Cindy!" she declared. "Me gonna be stwike witch!"

"I'm Tracie." Was the shy reply "I've been a strike witch for a year now."

"Where stwiker?" Cindy asked "Me want fwy stwiker."

"The strikers are in the fucking Hanger." Megan told her. "Come with me."

"Otay." Cindy chirped.

The group of girls and women followed Megan and Cindy to the hanger. There was a line of strikers in their cradles against the far wall. Most of them were Grumman F4F Wildcats with a few F6F Hellcats. Cindy was led to the far end of the line where there was a striker that was a bit smaller than the others. Diana took over at that point.

"This is your striker Cindy. It's a Boeing P-26 Peashooter." She told the tot. "It used to be Tracie's"

Cindy looked at the striker wide-eyed.

"Me fwy dis?" she finally asked.

"Yup, this is the Striker you are going to fly." Diana told her. "You ready?"

Cindy looked at the striker for several seconds as she realized that she was actually going to fly it.

"Otay. She finally said.

"Good, Now there is more to flying a striker than there is a broom. So right now I want you to promise that you will not take off until you have been told how to fly it." Diana told her. "I heard about what happened when you first flew a broom. This is much more dangerous and you could hurt somebody if you don't follow instructions."

"Otay" Cindy said becoming very serious.

"Okay you need to take your shoes and shorts off." Diana told her.

Cindy pulled off her shorts and shoes and stood ready in her top and diaper. Diana put a com link in her ear.

"Okay get on the striker cradle and call up your magic." Diana ordered the tot.

Tracie and Megan both got on their Striker cradles and called up their magic. All three girls manifested their familiars.

"Now watch what they do." Diana said.

Megan and Tracie both jumped in the air and landed their legs in the striker sockets a magic circle formed on the floor under the strikers. Cindy looked at what they do and looked over at Diana who nodded. She then duplicated what the older girls did a magic circle formed under her as well. Diana nodded approval. She spent the next couple minutes explaining what she was going to have to do next. She would be the third to take off. Megan was first and Tracie second. Diana would follow.

"Megan Wilson taking off." The clamps released and she was off out the door and airborne.

"Tracie Osborn taking off." Like Megan her clamps released and she joined Megan in the air.

Diana in the mean time had mounted her own striker.

"Okay Cindy you're next." She commanded.

"Cindy Jabwonski taking off." Her take off was a little sloppy but soon the toddler was in the air.

Diana was last off and soon joined the other three. Sandra stood with her heart in her throat as she watched her baby take off in her Striker. What happened next was a bit unnerving for the young mother.

"Okay we are going up to about a half mile I want lots of room to recover if something happens." Diana ordered.

The four of them flew straight up. Sandra watched nervously as Cindy flew up with the older girls MUCH faster and higher than she had previously flown on her broom. The four witches were flying high above the ground and working with Cindy on control of the strikers. The toddler found that flying a striker was a lot more work than a broom. While she had the agility power the faster and more powerful striker was not quite as easy to control. It took some work for the tot to get the feel of flying a striker. After a while she got better at it. Then it happened.

"Me poop!" Cindy declared.

"What the fuck!" Megan exclaimed. "Did you just shit your self?"

"Me sowwy." Cindy apologized turning beet red.

Diana at that point called the remainder of the training session short and they landed so Cindy could have her diaper changed. Sandra changed Cindy's diaper after they landed. Megan glared at the toddler. Sandra noticed that as she changed Cindy's diaper.

"She's still a baby." She told the older girl.

"Not any more!" Megan replied. "She's a fucking Strike Witch now. She can't shit in her diapers any more. She's fucking getting potty trained."

"And who is going to potty train her." Sandra asked.

The answer caught Sandra off guard.

"I'm fucking going to do it." Megan declared. "I'm her fucking commander. I'm getting my fucking Potty chair and fucking training her!"

Megan proved true to her word. A week later Cindy was potty trained.

Cindy has the Agility power and has unreal maneuverability. In addition to the power her small wings while not large enough for her to fly with them add to her magical ability to give the toddler agility to the point that she can actually fly her striker inside a building at speed. Something she does frequently which can be unnerving to people in the corridors when she does so. One other power she has is known as "Toddler Rage" when she is angry her strength increases dramatically to the point that she can match an older stronger witch when enraged. She can carry and use weapons that are normally too large for her when in that state. Her tail has a stinger and it comes complete with wasp venom. Because she is much larger that a normal Yellow Jacket her venom while the same strength as a normal wasp she will inject a much larger dose. That amount of venom if injected in a human would be fatal. Cindy is aware of that and is careful about her stinger as a result. She will however threaten to "'ting" somebody if they make her mad enough.

**Name:** Caroline Jawarski

**Age: 9**

**Birthday: **June 151937

**Affiliations: **Upper Peninsula Aero Striker Research Center

Conch Republic Air Force.

**Rank: **Lieutenant

**Height: **138cm / 54 inches

**Striker unit: **Grumman F6F Hellcat

Broom

**Weapon: **Browning BAR

**Familiar: **Double Crested Cormorant

**Background: **Caroline is old for the 555th She was six when she first manifested her power. She was swimming when a cormorant dived in the water near her. She dived after it and while underwater the bird turned and rubbed her head against her she immediately presented a magic circle she stayed under water for over ten minutes scaring her sister who had just lost her husband in a traffic accident and Victoria thought that she had seen her little sister drown. She finally came to the surface presenting the feathered crest and tail of the cormorant. Needless to say Victoria was rather surprised. She had recently heard about Lillian Lefey and that she was suspected to be a witch. She brought Caroline over to meet her and Lillian confirmed that Caroline was a witch and trained her to fly a broom.

Caroline is an orphan having lost both parents in a boating accident when she was still a baby. Victoria has raised her since then, she is also Susie's aunt. Caroline has the ability to hold her breath under water for up to fifteen minutes. She also can fly her broom and striker underwater as well often diving into the water and coming up a considerable distance from her entry point. She scared the hell out of Diana and Darla when shortly after she started to fly a striker she was flying over the waters of Lake Superior when she spotted something under water and suddenly dived in. After she was under several minutes Diana flew her striker out over the area while Darla got her boat out to hopefully rescue her before she drowned. Diana was able to find her quickly in the clear water but was surprised to discover that Caroline was moving beneath the surface at almost 45 knots! After going almost half a mile underwater Caroline burst to the surface and quickly climbed above Diana. Radio contact had been broken when she went under water. Once she resurfaced it was restored. Caroline was surprised when she found out that the other two girls had thought she had drowned. She had assumed that since she could fly her broom underwater and the others knew that that it was the same for a striker as well. She was right about flying the striker underwater but did not realize that the others would not figure that out.

Caroline can go down up to 75 feet below the surface and travel up to a mile and a half underwater before coming up for air. She uses her ability to sneak up on Neuroi or to evade them she can also rescue witches and others who have fallen in deep water. She is on the Command flight of the 555th JFW and serves as Diana's XO. Like her niece Caroline is slender with dark brown hair

**Name: **Anne Heikenin

**Age: **6

**Birthday: **July 15 1939

**Affiliations: **Upper Peninsula Aero Striker Research Center

Conch Republic Air Force

**Rank: **Sergeant

**Height: **112cm / 44 inches

**Striker unit: **Grumman F4F Wildcat

**Weapon: **Fedorov Avtomat M1916

**Familiar: **Porcupine

**Background: **Anne manifested her power shortly before her fifth birthday. Her parents came home to find the little girl had made friends with a porcupine. They told her to be careful because while not really dangerous he could still hurt her if she was not careful. Anne manifested her power at that point and assured her parents that her porcupine would not hurt her and by the way her porcupine was a she. Anne has a rare power she can put up multiple shields. Up to six shields can be made though putting up that many tires her. She tends to rush into the middle of a group of neuroi and throw up several shields sometimes the splatter of the multiple beams hitting her shields will damage one or more of the surrounding neuroi. She sometimes gets into trouble pulling that stunt as when she fights that many targets she will burn herself out and need help getting home.

Anne is a little on the short side She has long wavy blond hair that she likes to let fall free. She wears glasses with thick lenses and heavy plastic frames. A fact she is very sensitive about. She is a member of the command flight of the 555th JFW.

**Name: **Lynn Kim

**Age: **6

**Birthday: **November 11 1938

**Affiliations: **Upper Peninsula Aero Striker Research Center.

Conch Republic Air force

**Rank: **Sergeant

**Height: **117cm / 46 inches

**Striker Unit: **Grumman F4F Wildcat

**Weapon: **Fedorov Avtomat M1916

**Familiar: **Red Fox

**Background: **Lynn manifested her power when she was four and a half. She came home from playing in the woods and a fox was trotting along beside her. Her mother was a bit surprised when her daughter and the fox showed up. The fox was clearly not afraid to come home with her. Lynn's mother looked over the fox and asked Lynn.

"So who's your friend?"

Lynn barked her reply. Then she manifested her magic power.

"I'm a witch!" she declared. "This is my familiar."

By this time news had come out about a number of little girls showing magic powers at young ages. So she was not too surprised. A few days later she took Lynn to the Upper Peninsula Aero Striker Research Center and Lynn soon started to learn how to fly a striker. Lynn possesses the Three Dimensional Space Understanding power. She can quickly identify and locate friendly and hostile targets in every direction. And can sort them by number position and type. This power works through cloud cover and darkness.

Lynn is a tall slender girl of Korean Ancestry with long black hair. Her homeland had been devastated before her parents had been born and she is now Third Generation Liberion. Lynn is a member of the Command flight of the 555th JFW


End file.
